PowerUp Legal is recruiting attorneys with at least five years of background in some aspect of utility and energy law. Although we will consider all qualified candidates, we are particularly in need of lawyers with strong regulatory backgrounds. PowerUp understands that the application is lengthy, however, we must collect this data to efficiently match candidates. If you would like to contact us at info@poweruplegal, we are happy to answer any specific questions that you may have.

Benefits of Becoming a PowerUp Legal Attorney

What are the benefits of becoming a PowerUp Legal attorney?

PowerUpLegal gives attorneys the flexibility to take on challenging projects as their schedule permits, leaving time for other personal or professional endeavors. In this regard, PowerUp Legal is ideal for big law attorneys who seek to take a step back from the rigors of firm life for additional time with families, as well as veteran energy practitioners not yet ready to retire. In addition, with so much transition in the energy industry between government or in-house and the private sector, PowerUp Legal serves as a soft-landing for these energy attorneys to leverage their knowledge and remain productive while deciding what comes next.

PowerUp Legal also facilitates the administrative aspects of law practice by handings marketing and bill processing on your behalf so that you can focus on substantive legal matters. Other benefits of joining the PowerUpLegal team include membership to the Jenkins Law Library (which provides access to the Hein Online Law Review data base and FastCase legal research), opportunities to present CLEs – and we expect to roll out others as the business grows.

What qualifications are necessary to become an PowerUp Legal lawyer?

PowerUp Legal attorneys must have at least five years of experience in practice and/or teaching energy law at a law school. The evaluation process includes reviewing a writing sample; confirming your bar registration status and clean disciplinary history; and contacting references. PowerUp Legal attorneys must also have basic electronic and digital skills, including the ability to email, access documents stored in the cloud, and e-file documents in the fora in the jurisdictions where they practice.

Can I engage in other professional pursuits while I’m a PowerUp Legal lawyer?

Yes. You may engage in any professional pursuit you wish. This includes working for your own practice and engaging in direct representation of clients, part time employment or freelance work for a law firm or document review. PowerUp Legal asks only that you (1) disclose outside matters for purposes of a conflicts check if you are selected for a project, and (2) ensure that your outside work will not interfere with your ability to meet the deadlines for any projects or matters that you have committed to handle for PowerUp Legal clients.

How do I apply to become a Power Up Legal lawyer?

You can start the process by submitting a PowerUp Legal Application. We recognize that the application is comprehensive; however this information is necessary both to evaluate your potential fit and match you to potential projects. If you wish, you may email us at info@poweruplegal.com with a brief description of your background, and we can advise preliminarily whether you should move forward with the application.

Is there a fee to apply to become a PowerUp Legal lawyer?

No. PowerUp Legal recovers the costs of reviewing and matching attorneys and marketing through a fee assessed for each transaction conducted through our platform.

Do I have to bid for engagements against other PowerUp Legal lawyers?

No. When PowerUp Legal receives a project request from an energy company or law firm, we match the company with the PowerUp Legal lawyer (or team of lawyers) who we determine, in our exclusive discretion is (or are) the best fit for the engagement. Once we’ve matched you to a project, we will notify you of our decision and provide you with a deadline by which you must either (1) contact the company for additional information regarding the project or (2) firm or to decline the engagement. If, after you discuss the project with the firm and either you or the firm decide not to move forward with an engagement, we’ll match the firm to another Power Up Legal attorney.

Who sets the fee for the engagement?

The hiring company or firm. As part of PowerUp Legal’s legal services request form, we ask hiring companies to provide information about the experience level and rates of the attorneys they wish to hire, as well as their anticipated project budget and desire for alternative billing arrangements such as a flat fee. When an attorney is notified of a project match, we will also include a proposed hourly rate or flat fee amount. You may decline an engagement request if you determine that the price terms are not acceptable.

Note: PowerUp Legal does not accept projects where the fee is contingent on the outcome of a project or matter. This restriction helps the parties avoid the ethical prohibitions against fee-splitting.

How do I get paid for engagements that result from PowerUp Legal matches?

You’re required to invoice matched firms exclusively via the PowerUp Legal billing platform. Use of this platform allows PowerUp Legal to automatically collect its fee for the marketing and administrative services and other benefits discussed above. The PowerUp Legal billing platform can process payments made by credit card and electronic check (ACH). You may not agree to accept payment by paper check; in cash; by wire transfer; or by credit card or electronic check processed outside the PowerUp Legal billing platform.

What happens if a matched firm wants to hire me as a W-2 employee?

As discussed more fully in our terms of service, if a matched firm decides to hire you as a W-2 employee, the firm will pay PowerUp Legal a success fee representing a percentage of your annual base salary. The firm pays the fee, not the attorney.

Are there any ethics consequences that may result out from my participation in PowerUpLegal?

Although ultimately, each attorney is individually responsible for satisfying jurisdictional ethics requirements, PowerUpLegal has engaged in due diligence regarding the ethics of its proposed business model and has concluded that it does not run afoul of prohibitions on “fee sharing” for several reasons.

First, in the majority of cases, PowerUp Legal attorneys will be engaged by other law firms or general counsel within companies. Thus, the relationship of the PowerUp Legal attorney to the hiring firm is more in the nature of a sub-contractor than a traditional attorney-client arrangement to which fee-splitting prohibitions customarily apply.

Our opinion that PowerUp Legal’s arrangement is not fee splitting would not change even in situations where the PowerUp attorney is engaged directly by a non-lawyer “end user.” Nor would the arrangement constitute payment of a fee in exchange for a referral. Both the ABA and a number of jurisdictions hold that lawyers may permissibly pay the reasonable cost of advertising and communications in exchange for receiving a case (as in a pay-per-click arrangement).

Must I have my own law firm and other administrative support do I need to participate in a PowerUp Legal Engagement?

PowerUpLegal does not require any specific business structure for participating attorneys. Although attorneys with their own law firms may participate in PowerUp Legal, we also welcome attorneys who operate as sole proprietor freelancers.

Because PowerUp Legal attorneys function as independent contractors, PowerUp Legal does not provide office space, computers or internet and phone service. The extent of administrative support required will vary by engagement: some companies may wish to retain a lawyer to work on site and will provide necessary infrastructure, while others may prefer a remote engagement in which case the PowerUp Legal attorney would, at a minimum, require word processing tools, internet access and phone line.